Imagine if you could slow down and stop time. Take a moment to examine the beautiful detail in everything that surrounds us. We are living so fast that everything is blurred and we can’t possibly appreciate the fragility of our own existence…. that’s the ethos of this exhibition, a meditation on the beautiful detail of the natural world. Through paintings, embroidered works and a virtual reality installation – Momentary seeks to stop time.. for just a moment .. and permits us to see the beauty of an explosion, of spinning shards of glass – the beating of a hummingbirds wings, the detail concealed within its’ plumage, the incredible pattern and order that makes up the chaos.

Momentary

I am pleased to invite you to an exhibition opening at Lilford Gallery in Folkestone this Friday the 29th July. The exhibition is my first solo show in just over 2 years and brings together a collection of framed original works on paper, limited edition prints and a virtual reality installation.

Here is a little about the collection of work and also a snippet of the new pieces that will be on show at the exhibition which runs until 21st August at Lilford Gallery

Inspired by nature’s expansive colour palette these new works present a vivid alternate reality, ‘Let’s stop time’ invites the viewer to slow down and take time to reflect on the beauty within their surroundings, a chaotic solitary moment becomes a place for meditation. ‘Eternity’captures the beauty and chaos of a single brush stroke within which an alternate reality is revealed like a dream or a momentary glimpse into the life of a stranger all in a single moment. In’Perfectly Still’, the ‘Hourglass’ and ‘Elevation’ time is brought to a standstill and the beauty of nature among chaos is evident, all three works begin as an abstract composition, embracing chaos and the freedom of single strokes of paint, accidents and chaos in which we seek to find order. Rising from this chaos we find beautiful accidents of nature or creation depending on our beliefs and ideologies, it seems almost irrelevant how they occur.. what is common is the beauty in infinite detail.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

‘The Mortal Coil’ challenges us to look at our own time and existence – the brevity of our time on this planet, the place we hold among our surroundings and our connections with the natural world, as the painting pulses revealing a skull beneath the layers it reminds that we are flesh and bone,it challenges us to appreciate our short time, to make the most of our existence. In ‘Knowledge is Power’, ‘Trouble’, Brave new world and ‘Protection’ I want the viewer to look at the possibilities and opportunities that arise from a single moment – each work references the image ‘I and Love and You’ by photographer Michael Färber. Each image searches the subject for a different story, chaos plays it’s part again and these works are an example of the approach taken to painting – allowing chaos and chance to dictate the outcome.

The smaller portraits ‘momentary’ series focus on calm and meditation – both in the approach to the drawings but also in the subject itself – they are quiet moments of contemplation and time taken to reflect. These pieces were created at the end of the show and are a pause point and possibly and indication of where the work will turn next.

In addition to these and other original works I will be showing three new limited edition prints as follows;

A hand embroidered print with hand painted goldleaf details called ‘A little piece of peace and quiet’ edition of 20

The inclusion of the oracle as a print in this show is to link some of the works on black paper I have produced with a virtual reality installation piece called ‘Momentary’. The piece takes elements from all of the new paintings and blends these with details from the works on black paper – but it does so in a virtual space using the HTC Vive Headset viewers are able to explore this virtual environment and examine the painting in it’s virtual sulptured form.

Just out of reach brings to attention the things which we desire and reminds us of the importance of the natural world. Combining imagery from advertising and fashion with nature, the artist utilises the powerful ‘selling gaze’ and uses it to transport the viewer into a fantasy world abound with rich nature and lush vegetation. The broken shards of glass symbolise the moment of realisation, when we rediscover the beauty in our natural surroundings. The use of glazes on the shards of glass and the opulence created by the 24 ct gold detail serve to question just what riches are and what is important in life.

I’m delighted to be launching a new 20×16″ print on Wednesday the 27th Jan, with Derbby.

Derbby have a unique price structure which works great, making the early prints in an edition extremely accessible. The usual selling price of Derbby Prints is $149 but for the Flash Sale the price drops to $25.. and that’s where it gets interesting, each successive sale raises the price by $1 !

Derbby aren’t cutting corners however, the print is made on a bright white Epson archival paper at a heavy 330gsm! this is embossed with the Derbby logo and accompanied by an artists signature by way of a certificate applied to the reverse of the piece… this results in a clean ready to frame image.

The piece itself was created in January of 2016 and experiments with creating more layering and more detail than usual, I wanted to give Derbby an image that would translate well in the reduction to a print, making the detail finer and crisper. Continuing on from the earlier piece this year entitled all I want is everything, the piece reflects on commercial desire, our relationship with nature, and the unattainable. I’ve included some work in progress images below to show the process of making the work.

If you are interested, the original work will also be made available through Derbby via a unique bidding system. Checkout www.derbby.com for more details.

Like this:

The new ltd edition print Barrier is now available from the online shop

Barrier was created for exhibition at Stroke Art Fair in Munich, 2013. The original was shown with Coates and Scarry and is one of the few pieces featuring a male subject. The original is created with expressive graphite lines and then layers of ink stripped back with boiling water. The piece also features a delicate barbed wire motif printed with a rubber stamp as if in a wallpaper pattern.

‘The piece represents freedom from self imposed restraints, belonging to a series in which the artist explores our relationship with nature and pattern, using floral motifs such as wallpaper as a 2 dimensional divide between ourselves and nature.’